Around 200 people were taken hostage by Hamas. Their fate remains unknown. Private initiatives are trying to get them safely returned.
zenith: What was the idea behind your website bringhomeourown.com?
Ariel Ezrahi: The reason I personally decided to start #Bringhomeourown is because of the incredible tragedy that happened in the south of Israel. I think that this is one of the worst tragedies that humanity has experienced so far in the 21st century. The barbarity of the massacres (including burning alive) of babies, young children, pregnant women, men and the elderly, beheadings and of and the taking of hostages are simply shocking in their brutality.
Some speak about Israel's 9/11 moment. Without minimizing the horror of 9/11 for even a second, but this was something else. Here, terrorists looked babies or three-year-old children directly in the eye and shot them in cold blood. The sheer barbarity and brutality of what happened affects all of Israel. There is no gender, no skin color, no religion that has not been massacred or kidnapped by Hamas terrorists. The vast majority of the victims were Jews but in addition, foreign nationals, Christians, Muslims, Buddhists and others died as well. I personally was shocked by it, as were all Israelis and also millions of people around the world.
As a result, I wanted to do something quickly and immediately. I turned to a web designer I knew. Within less than 24 hours, we had the website up and running. The idea was to set up a clock indicating when the attacks would begin. This was to put pressure on the Israeli government, but also on the international community, to do everything they could to bring the hostages home as quickly as possible. Every minute that passed just seemed too painful and unforgivable. I know that there are other organizations now, led primarily by the families of the abductees themselves. I just hope that time has not run out. I hope that we still have time to bring these people back.
From your political experience, how do you explain the current situation?
The Israeli mindset, or the mindset of Prime Minister Netanyahu at the time, was that if Gaza had electricity, relations between Israel and Gaza would calm down. Of course, the international community followed this thinking and supported numerous projects benefitting Gaza under Hamas control in the fields of energy and water, including the "Gas for Gaza" project. Netanyahu had an "unwritten" agreement, so to speak, with Hamas. They controlled the Gaza Strip. He, as Israeli prime minister, was indirectly working with them. So he would enable Gaza to get electricity, gas, water, and other needed goods despite the Strip being ruled by a terrorist Islamist organization. This had been the policy of the Netanyahu government for years. In practice, the way it worked was that we, as members of the international community, cooperated with the Palestinian Authority. Of course, we did not work directly with Hamas, but with the PA, although it was clear that Hamas had and has control over Gaza.
But this policy of appeasement, this unwritten deal between Netanyahu and Hamas, was a pact with the devil. When we look at the tragedy in southern Israel, it became abundantly clear that this policy could not work. Of course, other factors also played a role. The Netanyahu government failed massively in detecting operations such as the accumulation of weapons and the planning of the attack. Certainly, there were political problems on the Israeli side that contributed to tensions in the region. Prime Minister Netanyahu also explicitly and personally approved the entry of Qataris with suitcases full of cash to pay Hamas officials. This, too, was part of his vision of appeasing Hamas and his extreme right wing coalition partners have been intent on igniting the Middle East by consistently provoking the Arabs and undermining Israeli democracy. I want to make it clear though, whatever the faults of the Israeli Netanyahu government and its policies, one thing is absolutely clear, the Hamas is not appeasable, as these barbaric attacks on women, children and men in Israel clearly show and no failure of the peace process or any Israeli policies could ever justify or explain the massacres and hostage taking that Hamas undertook.
The media's focus is now shifting to the ground offensive. How great is the danger that the issue of the hostages will increasingly fade into the background?
I think the politicians, the people and the media need to be told one thing very clearly. There is no "yes, but." There has to be an unequivocal condemnation of the cruel and inhumane acts of Hamas. Of course, there is a need to protect civilians on both sides (and I hope Egypt makes that possible for civilians in Gaza), and in the end, reconstruction and eventually some form of a future settlement with a moderate Palestinian group controlling the Gaza Strip. That is all well and good. But first there has to be an unequivocal, clear condemnation of the barbarity that has happened.
I have seen demonstrations in support of the Palestinians all over the world, including in London, Paris and Berlin. Many people, under normal circumstances, would understand and support Palestinians seeking their own independent state. But many of these demonstrators were holding signs that Jews should remember where they were in 1940 and watch out whilst others called for gassing the Jews. We also saw people with stickers depicting the Hamas paragliders that were used to butcher the participants in the Israeli peace party. What Hamas did and all of those demonstrators supporting the butchery of Hamas probably did more damage to any chance of an independent Palestinian state than anything else I've seen. And certainly, to the prospects for peace between Israel and the Palestinians.
According to official figures, we are talking over 200 people held hostage. The number of hostages alone is staggering. What does this mean for Israeli society? And what will Hamas do with such a large number of hostages?
As far as Israeli society is concerned, this is an unprecedented incident. Any hostage-taking, especially of civilians, has always left great scars in Israeli society. There is no doubt that the psychological damage, the loss of life, will last for generations F As for Hamas: I hope I am wrong, but I have no doubt that they will try to use the hostages as human shields. Hamas has no inhibitions about using its own people to protect military installations from IDF attacks. I do not believe that it will show any restraint in doing so.
I hope that there will still be some kind of agreement or safe passage for the hostages. But the window of opportunity for that is closing very quickly. I am very afraid for the hostages. I hope that somehow they manage to survive. The problem is that we are not dealing with two armies or two states taking hostages from each other's armies and then exchanging them. We are dealing with a barbaric terrorist organization that is kidnapping babies, children, and grandparents. But as I am not involved in the military operation, nor am I involved in the decision-making in respect to the hostages, I can only hope. What I can say, however, is that each of these hostages is felt by every Israeli and Jew and people around the world to be their own brothers, sisters, children and grandparents.
How quickly does this shift between the need for military action in Gaza and the need to secure the lives of the hostages change?
Once a ground offensive begins, it's hard to have certainty. We all pray that part of the ground offensive is to see pictures of hostages being freed by Israeli soldiers; and returning safely to their homes. But there is always the risk that this is just wishful thinking and that we will see more tragedies. Both the death of civilian hostages and the death of our soldiers. The majority of Israelis, I have no doubt, do not wish for the death of Palestinian civilians in Gaza. But there is an absolutely general consensus in Israel right now that the Hamas leadership and capabilities must be wiped off the face of this earth. I think that is a view that is shared not only by Israelis. We see statements from President Biden. We see very clear statements from the German Government, the European Union, the British, and others.
What sources do you have to verify whether someone is definitely missing or presumed dead?
We have uploaded pictures on our website of people who we know from verifiable sources have been taken hostage or are missing. These sources can be reputable media outlets or the families' websites. There was an Israeli operation to recover bodies of some who were considered missing, across the border. So we could be sure that they were dead. As for our website, it was set up more to influence policy to bring the hostages home as quickly as possible. We don't update the site on a daily basis, or as soon as we have information about a particular person. Rather, it is intended to show the scale and scope of civilian tragedy, from babies to the elderly.
We are in the process of working with other websites that may have more traffic. We know that families of hostages regularly try to update information, including where the person disappeared and some background information about them. We, on the other hand, don't go into that much detail. For us, it was important to set up a website quickly in the hope that other websites would either copy the concept of a watch or adopt our watch. That was our main concern. Of course, the Association of Families of the Abducted monitors the specific cases and has a database that is updated regularly. They are, of course, in talks with the authorities.
Are these websites cooperating with the government?
Several things are happening at the same time right now. The main website dealing with this issue is the relatives' website. It is not an official government website because the government may have different considerations than the families of the hostages. The families of the hostages want to get their loved ones back as soon as possible, while the government is planning a massive ground operation. Some of these operations may not be 100% compatible with each other. The prime minister has appointed a coordinator to coordinate with the families.
In addition, there are various influencers and celebrities with a very, very large following. Gal Gadot, the former Wonder Woman, has 109 million followers and posts the names and pictures of those who have been kidnapped. This kind of thing definitely needs to happen more often, because time is running out. The atrocities that have taken place in the South should horrify anyone who has basic human values, regardless of their religion or gender or race or nationality.
You mentioned Qatar, which has said it is open to negotiations. Yesterday, Qatar hosted Ismail Haniyeh. Is it at all possible that they can be reliable negotiating partners in this case?
I think one of the things that is abundantly clear is that whatever agreements there were before, all that meant not working directly with Hamas but going through other parties like Qatar, is nonetheless a deal with the devil. But Qatar is probably one of the few players that currently has direct access and influence over Hamas. So I think the recent meeting between the Emir of Qatar and Chancellor Scholz is absolutely critical. At the same time, there are very real questions that need to be asked. For example, who Qatar supports and with whom it cooperates. Certainly, supporting terrorist organizations around the world is not something that Germany and other countries would condone. But at this point in time, Qatar has information and access that most countries do not have. If we focus on how to get the hostages back, it is very clear that Qatar has a big role and responsibility in that regard.
I have been to Qatar many times, and I think it would be wise of Qatar to maintain its relations with Germany, with the European Union, and with other countries in the future from their perspective. If they are able to at least alleviate this humanitarian disaster that has occurred in Israel by facilitating a release of the hostages, I think that would send an incredible message that Qatar has its direction and face for more constructive and peaceful partnerships in the world. Countries like Qatar will have to ask themselves where they position themselves and who are their allies and who are their enemies. I think now is the time for countries like Qatar to think seriously, will they align with Iran and Russia and continue to support terrorist organizations or will they become a reliable peace promoting player which will seek to bring stability and prosperity in the region and beyond. As the world eventually weans itself from natural gas as part of the energy transition, Qatar’s leverage will no doubt decrease significantly. Now is the time for them to clearly demonstrate that they are with the forces of progress and not destruction. One clear way they can show this is by facilitation of the release of the hostages.
Ariel Ezrahi
